Traditional treatments for viral infection include pharmaceuticals aimed at specific virus derived proteins, such as HIV protease or reverse transcriptase, or recombinant (cloned) immune modulators (host derived), such as the interferons. However, the current methods have several limitations and drawbacks which include high rates of viral mutations which render anti-viral pharmaceuticals ineffective. For immune modulators, limited effectiveness, limiting side effects, a lack of specificity all limit the general applicability of these agents. Also the rate of success with current antivirals and immune-modulators has been disappointing.
The current invention focuses on genes that are not essential for cellular survival when disrupted in one or both alleles, but which are required for virus replication. This may occur with a dose effect, in which one allele knock-out may confer the phenotype of virus resistance for the cell. As targets for therapeutic intervention, inhibition of these cellular gene products, including: proteins, parts of proteins (modification enzymes that include, but are not restricted to glycosylation, lipid modifiers [myristylation, etc.]), lipids, transcription elements and RNA regulatory molecules, may be less likely to have profound toxic side effects and virus mutation is less likely to overcome the ‘block’ to replicate successfully.
The present invention provides a significant improvement over previous methods of attempted therapeutic intervention against viral infection by addressing the cellular genes required by the virus for growth. Therefore, the present invention also provides an innovative therapeutic approach to intervention in viral infection by providing methods to treat viruses by inhibiting the cellular genes necessary for viral infection. Inhibition of these cellular genes can also be useful in treating infection by other pathogens such as bacteria, fingi and parasites. Because these genes are nonessential to the cell's survival, these treatment methods can be used in a subject without serious detrimental effects to the subject, as has been found with previous methods.